Then let’s die. Hwasan. (1)
Jo Geol’s heart began pounding hard.
It was only natural. Going up against the Demonic Cult with just this many people was no different from carrying kindling on one’s back and leaping into a fire.
There would be nothing strange about being afraid, or about his body trembling.
But Jo Geol knew.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
The reason his heart was pounding now was not fear of the enemy.
The moment he saw demonic cultists surging towards them like a black tide, strength instinctively filled the hand gripping his sword.
“Sahyeong.”
“…Why.”
“To be honest… perhaps I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Yoon Jong, who had been staring straight ahead with a serious expression, abruptly turned his head to Jo Geol.
At the look in his eyes, which seemed to say, ‘This bastard was acting strange enough, and now he’s finally gone completely off the rails, huh?’ Jo Geol hurriedly shouted.
“That’s not what I meant…!”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You cursed me out with your eyes!”
“Of course you’d pick up on that like a ghost. Then what do you mean?”
Jo Geol bit down hard on his lip before speaking.
“To be honest… I didn’t really do anything in Hangzhou, did I?”
“Hmm…….”
“I didn’t say anything at the time, but it really hurt my pride.”
Yoon Jong shrugged.
As for Hangzhou, he did not have much to say either. The world believed that Hwasan had resolved most of what happened in Hangzhou… but what was the reality?
“Chung Myung and Jang Ilso did everything.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
All they had done was guard the rear while Chung Myung and Jang Ilso dealt with the Bishop. And as for whether they had actually handled those demonic cultists properly…
‘What a joke.’
Of course, some might think even that had been enough. They might even call it impressive.
But that was not how Jo Geol saw it.
Anyone satisfied with such a small role would go no further than that. Jo Geol had not the slightest intention of limiting his role to that much.
And so, he could only remember the battle in Hangzhou as a failure.
“But as it happens, Chung Myung isn’t here.”
“The Bishop isn’t here either.”
“Ah, that is a bit of a shame.”
Jo Geol grinned.
“If I run wild here, no one will be able to say anything to me now.”
“No one said anything to you in the first place.”
“That’s not the important part.”
Yoon Jong shook his head as if there was simply no way of dealing with him.
‘Well, I suppose this is good.’
It was a hundred times better than being scared and backing out. And, how should he put it…
‘It doesn’t seem like this brat Jo Geol is the only one thinking this way.’
Yoon Jong subtly shifted his gaze. Baek Cheon, Hye Yeon, and Tang Soso were all shrugging as if they sympathized with Jo Geol’s words. He could even see Yu Iseol giving the slightest shrug.
“…Just in case, I’ll say this one more time: we’re not standing here so we can get ourselves killed fighting.”
“Of course.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re listening…”
“I am listening, I am listening.”
At Baek Cheon’s reply, his eyes slightly bloodshot, Yoon Jong let out a sigh. Then, before long, a hollow laugh escaped him.
‘I just can’t fit in with these people.’
He simply could not understand it.
No one knew the terror of the Demonic Cult better than Hwasan. After all, there was likely no one in the current Gangho who had experienced the Demonic Cult as much as they had.
Which meant that the people standing here were the ones who best understood just how terrifying the nearly thousand Demonic Cult members filling the horizon and advancing towards them were.
And yet, how could they not be afraid? His own legs were trembling beneath him.
“Phew.”
After taking a long breath, Yoon Jong raised his sword slightly, in attempt to reason with himself as he kept trying to stop in his tracks.
Just then, Baek Cheon asked.
“Are you ready?”
Why Baek Cheon had chosen to ask him, of all the people here… Yoon Jong did not want to think about it right now. He merely searched for the best answer he could give at that moment.
“When have we ever…..”
Yoon Jong began calmly, but in the end, he finished in a raspy voice.
“…actually prepared properly before fighting?”
“Heh….”
At that, Baek Cheon let out a laugh that sounded almost like a groan.
“You have a point.”
“Yes. It’s nothing new.”
Baek Cheon tightened his grip on the sword.
“Right, so you’re saying preparation isn’t even necessary.”
“…That doesn’t seem to be what he meant.”
“Either way, what does it matter?”
At the voices bursting around him as usual, Baek Cheon grinned. At the same time, a violent wave of energy erupted from his body.
They could not rush in.
Even knowing in his head how important it was to hold this position, no sane person could charge at them alone. That was the sort of thing only a lunatic like Chung Myung could do.
Right, there was no way he could charge in. Not alone.
At that moment, as if in response, fierce waves of energy erupted from those around Baek Cheon. It was a savage killing intent, so brutal that one could hardly imagine it coming from masters of the Taoist path.
Baek Cheon bared his teeth and grinned without realizing it.
‘This is why I can go.’
Even if that place was hell.
Kwaaaaaaang!
Baek Cheon kicked off the ground and shot forward. Before long, as if on cue, the disciples of Hwasan kicked off the ground almost simultaneously and filled the space beside him.
The world warped.
Beyond the vast field that seemed to stretch endlessly, a group came into view, spewing black demonic energy more ominous than anything imaginable. The black demonic energy swept over Baek Cheon like flames. His knees weakened, and it felt as if his entire body were being constricted.
“Kaaaaaaah!”
Dozens of demonic cultists charged towards Baek Cheon.
This was not an orderly charge. But neither was it like the chaotic terror displayed by Sapaeryeon.
From the front, the sides, and above. Shoving and pulling at one another, they charged forward while screaming at the top of their lungs.
Beasts? Not a chance. No beast in the world would rampage that wildly. It was a madness shown only by the Demonic Cult.
Just as Baek Cheon was about to swing his sword to keep himself from being swallowed by that madness, someone else’s sword moved ahead of his.
“Raaaaaagh!”
The familiar back of a curly-haired man filled his field of vision. At the same time, dozens of sword shadows bloomed like flowers.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Sword energy like flashes of lightning pierced sharply into demonic cultist’ bodies.
“Kaaaaah!”
Although terrible screams erupted, they did not retreat from an attack of this magnitude. They took the attacks head-on with their sturdy bodies and, even as blood poured from their wounds, unleashed a barrage of attacks aimed at Jo Geol’s head without a moment’s hesitation.
Claaaang!
But the black hand descending towards Jo Geol’s head was blocked by another sword thrust out from behind him.
It was not flashy. It was not even swift, but it was solid. A sword that adhered unwaveringly to the fundamentals knocked away every demonic hand [마수(魔手)] reaching for Jo Geol’s body.
“Stop running wild, you damned bastard!”
Stepping lightly on Yoon Jong’s back as he shouted, someone sprang into the air.
It lasted an extremely brief moment. Truly only an instant, but even Baek Cheon found his gaze stolen by the sight.
Yu Iseol rose lightly into the air, crimson sword energy blooming at the tip of her sword. The crimson sword energy swept in a long horizontal stroke as though embroidering the empty air, then shattered into countless flower petals, which scattered and rained down over demonic cultists’ heads.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
The Demonic Cult members’ bodies were sliced in numerous places by the red petals. Even if they were beings who had half lost their reason, they could not help but react to the pain of their flesh being carved apart, writhing and howling jn agony.
“Kaaaaaaargh!”
As though the pain had only further fueled their hatred, demonic cultists reached up and clawed at Yu Iseol suspended in the air. They looked as though they were desperately craving something just beyond their grasp.
And Tang Soso did not miss the opening created when their attention shifted entirely in one direction.
In contrast to Yu Iseol, Tang Soso moved stealthily. Slipping quietly beneath demonic cultists like a silent dagger shooting forward, she swung her sword in one sweeping motion.
Swooooooosh.
It was the same sword technique as the one Yu Iseol had once displayed. But its character was entirely different. If Yu Iseol’s sword had been subtle yet dazzling, like the moon floating over a lake, Tang Soso’s sword was stealthy and deadly, like a waning moon rising behind clouds in the dead of night.
Shhk!
Demonic cultists, unable to respond because Yu Iseol had stolen their attention, were cut down by Tang Soso’s sword.
Crunch!
But that was all. Even demonic cultists whose stomachs had been split wide open, even the ones whose leg had been severed, did not stop from wounds such as those. Clawing at the ground, writhing and howling, they lunged at Tang Soso to tear her limb from limb.
This was enough.
“Raaaaaaaaagh!”
They had bought enough time. Enough time for a single sword to trace through the air, gather its energy, and unleash sword energy imbued with enlightenment.
Fwooooah!
Baek Cheon’s sword was vibrating violently in the air.
It was swift and fierce, yet within it ran an unmistakable trace of gentleness.
Fwoooosh!
Crimson sword energy burst from the trembling tip of the sword and drew countless plum blossoms across the air. Each one was exceedingly fragile and insignificant, but they soon multiplied into thousands and formed a mighty river.
Rather than being dazzling, the great crimson wave surged onward in a vast, continuous flow. It gently enveloped Tang Soso, then swept away demonic cultists around her in an instant.
Everything was reflected in Baek Cheon’s eyes.
Jo Geol, Yoon Jong, Yu Iseol, and Tang Soso were all guarding his front.
This was a sword he could not have unleashed without them. No, without them, Baek Cheon would not even have been standing here.
It did not matter that Chung Myung was not here. This sword would prove that all the time they had spent until now had not been in vain.
Of course, he was not the only one who thought so.
Baek Cheon withdrew his sword and leaped to the side. From behind him emerged someone with a composed expression, one palm held upright before his chest.
The Shaolin-exclusive half-palm stance(salute) [반장(半掌)] honors Huike [Hyega 혜가(慧可)], the Second Patriarch [이조 (二祖)]*, who is said to have cut off his own arm and attained enlightenment. Though dressed in black monk’s robes, Hye Yeon’s half-palm stance held not a single trace of hesitation.
Vrooooom!
A majestic Buddha’s light [불광(佛光)] gathered around Hye Yeon’s fist, which had been resting at his waist. Being golden, it ought to have been dazzling, yet Hye Yeon’s light was soft and subdued.
“Amitabha.”
With his eyes half-closed, Hye Yeon uttered a quiet Buddhist invocation before extending his left hand. One who had severed even his worldly afflictions. The fist of an Arhat [아라한(阿羅漢)의 권]. A martial art so lofty that, to describe its heights, one had to dare call it a Divine Fist [신의 권(神拳)].
Hye Yeon’s Arhat Divine Fist [아라한신권(阿羅漢神拳)], unleashed at the highest level, poured forth together with a majestic Buddha’s light.
Vrooooooooooom!
A force that could only be described as colossal weight descended upon demonic cultists.
As though everything in its path were being swept away by a flooding river, demonic cultists were caught in the golden fist-force and hurled back, and back again.
And when the majestic Buddha’s light finally vanished, the disciples of Hwasan and Hye Yeon found themselves laughing in disbelief.
“…..There’s no end to them.”
They had poured out attacks powerful enough to leave nothing more to give, yet the course of the battle had not changed in the slightest.
It was a sight that could be called despair. What was a human being supposed to do when even giving everything they had changed nothing?
But the disciples of Hwasan once again raised their swords without waiting for anyone else to move first. Baek Cheon bared his teeth and grinned.
“We knew this was coming anyway.”
No other words were needed. Their resolve was already more than sufficient – overflowing, in fact.
“Then let’s die. Hwasan.”
Baek Cheon’s sword once again brimmed with crimson sword energy.
Special Spinoff Chapter 65 >>>
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*About the half palm salute/stance more in Chapter 1016.
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